White Raven

Although the story begins with Little Wolf, along with her husband and children, moving to her island of birth to be closer to nature and out of the city, it is really about Little Wolf’s mother, White Raven. White Raven visits her daughter and granddaughters often and decides that the time has come to tell the grandchildren about the experiences of residential school. The story then narrates the experience of the children being taken from their village and travelling by boat to St. Michael’s Indian Residential School in Alert Bay. The narrative then describes the terrible experiences that she and others endured at the school.

Without going into too much detail, the author, Teoni Spathelfer, does remarkable work in listing the awful treatment the children received. The dreadful environment included crammed sleeping quarters, DDT being applied to children’s shaved heads, scarce food and hunger, separation from siblings, punishment for not speaking English, being renamed as a number, cold showers, humiliation by teachers, and neglect by an eye-doctor.

White Raven also describes having one favourite teacher who was kind and looked out for her when she was sick. This teacher also made her a dress one time. Stolen moments of time with her cousins and having fun when the adults weren’t watching were the only times that White Raven felt some degree of being glad. The occasional appearance of a beautiful white raven that would land close to her reminded her of her home and her Raven clan. This is also how White Raven got her name.

This book could have concluded when White Raven returned home when she was 16, but the author shares that White Raven came to recognize that she needed support and began going to workshops for Residential School Survivors. These workshops and the sharing that occurred there were healing for White Raven and helped her be an encouraging and supportive grandmother.

The end of White Raven’s story has Little Wolf (White Raven’s daughter) attending a special museum exhibit where she immediately recognizes her mother since White Raven never pulled up her socks (they were always rolled down), and she never wore shoes.

For anyone wondering about how to enter a discussion about Truth and Reconciliation Day with young people, Teoni Spathelfer has provided this doorway in White Raven. Quite simply, this book is a must-have. Natassia Davies provides the amazing and poignant illustrations. It is a genuine and engaging narrative. There are likely many educators and teacher-librarians who provide book after book that address some of the issues surrounding residential schools and that portray elements of the deleterious effects of the residential school system. Make no mistake, these are also excellent books. These books detail events that have led to Orange Shirt Day(s); such as Phyllis Webstad’s The Orange Shirt Story, Nicola I. Campbell’s Shi-shi-etko> which poetically describes the loss that was felt by children forced to attend Canada’s residential schools. Others, like Gord Downie’s The Secret Path bring graphic elements of Canada’s history to the present. So what makes White Raven any different or better? In this reviewer’s opinion, it is the voice of the author retelling the shocking facts her mother experienced as well as the resilience and recovery efforts to heal survivors' ongoing trauma. In White Raven, the author’s voice is a clarion call to action of remembrance, truth and reconciliation that has thus far been missing from many of our library book shelves.